Step-By-Step: How To Help Your Baby To Latch Properly The First Time

When you’re in the hospital and they pass your newborn to you for the first time, you may be overcome with so many raw emotions. Amid that overwhelm, your baby will begin the instinct of looking for food; this is known as the breast crawl. When this happens, you may struggle to get baby to latch on properly, especially if your breasts are large or baby is very small. This guide will break down some of my top tips and advice to help your baby to latch properly for the first time, and how to make sure they are effectively removing milk.

Why A Proper Latch Matters For You And Your Baby

You may be thinking, why does it matter? Wont they learn with time, and should i even be worried about if my baby has a proper latch? The answer to that, is that it does matter quite a bit, and it can actually be the sole factor that makes or breaks your breastfeeding journey.

A poor latch can be detrimental to your breastfeeding journey in so many different ways. Firstly, a poor latch will be pretty uncomfortable for you. Now, be prepared that breastfeeding may leave you a little sore for the first few weeks anyway, even if you are doing everything perfectly. However, if the pain is long lasting or severe, you may be dealing with an improper latch.

A poor latch can also cause you to develop mastitis, which is extremely painful and causes severe flu-like symptoms. Poor latch leads to poor milk removal, and if that milk is sitting there in your ducts without movement for too long, it can create an infection. ill fitting pumps can also cause you to develop mastitis, so please make sure your flange sizing is correct (and measure yourself regularly because it’s possible for your sizes to change throughout your breastfeeding journey!)

Signs Of A Good VS Bad Latch

A good latch:

• Baby’s nose and chin should both make contact with your breast
• The angle of your baby’s open mouth should resemble a 140 degree angle
• both lips should seal, if you are hearing clicking noises, your baby’s moth is not forming a proper seal
• the cheeks should be rounded
• baby should be off center with more of the lower part of your areola in their mouth
• at the end of the feeding, baby’s hands should open and their body should feel fully relaxed.
• Feeding does not cause you any pain
• Baby’s lips should be flanged out, not tucked or rolled in.
• baby is sucking in a strong rhythmic motion with occasional pauses
• After feeding, your nipple shape should stay rounded. if it is flattened or resembles the shape of a lipstick, your latch is poor.
• breasts should feel significantly softer and lighter after feeding (after 12 weeks, your supply should regulate and this sensation may not be as noticeable anymore, but for the initial first few weeks, it should be a clear indicator that baby is truly removing milk effectively!)

Signs of a poor latch include:

• Extremely painful nursing, making nursing unbearable or causing you to cry.
• the latch is shallow, baby is only latched onto the tip of your nipple rather than latching onto a deeper portion of your areola
• clicking or smacking sounds while feeding indicate baby is losing suction or breaking their seal, typically caused by a poor latch but may be a sign of a potential tongue tie
• dimpling cheeks when sucking can indicate baby doesn’t have a very strong suction
• a flattened or misshapen nipple after a feed can indicate a variety of issues, most commonly this is a sign of tongue or lip ties.
• baby comes off of the breast often or needs to be relatched often (NOTE: this can also be a sign that you have a forceful letdown and it may be overwhelming to your baby!)
• fussy or unsatisfied after a feed

Step-By-Step: How To Help Your Baby to Latch Perfectly The First Time

Step 1: Get Comfortable, ensure you are in a comfortable position with good back support, and make sure the room is relaxing with dimly lit lights.

Step 2: Remove your baby’s clothes and change their diaper. This will help to ensure your baby is fully awake and ready to eat. Do not put their clothes back on until after their feed is complete.

Step 3: Position the baby. Hold your baby skin to skin, ensuring their stomach is touching yours. Align your baby’s nose to your nipple and make sure you are keeping your baby’s head, neck, and body in a straight line all facing towards you.

Step 4: Start encouraging your baby to open their mouth wide. Support baby’s upper back and shoulders, wait for them to open their mouth to a fully wide position and quickly bring baby in to latch onto your breast. Their chin should be pressed into your breast, make sure their chin is not tucked into their chest.

step 5: check for a good latch, ensuring baby’s lips are flanged outward, their mouth is covering a large portion of the areola, you are feeling a gentle tug and no sharp pinching pain, the cheeks look rounded without dimpling, and you should hear or see baby swallowing after their first few sucks.

Common Latching Problems And How To Fix Them

1. Shallow Latch

Signs of a shallow latch include: A painful, pinching or burning sensation while nursing. Baby is mostly only sucking on the nipple rather than having a majority of the areola in their mouth, and your nipple looks flat or creased after a feed.

You can fix this by breaking their latch and trying again, when you first start to breastfeed, you may need to do this several times to get a good deep latch, especially if your newborn is small. Make sure when you do latch baby, that their mouth is fully open and you are not trying to force or push your breast into their mouth. Aiming the nipple up towards the roof of baby’s mouth can help to make sure your newborn is getting most of the bottom of the areola into their mouth. I highly recommend the “flipple technique” which includes pressing down gently on baby’s chin as they latch to help them take more of the breast.

2. Baby is regularly slipping off of the breast

If your baby is having a hard time staying on the breast, I recommend you check their body positioning to make sure they are fully supported and aligned with your breast. You can also try different breastfeeding positions like the football hold or side lying to see if that is more comfortable for all involved. Make sure baby’s lips are fully sealed and flanged outward rather than tucked in. If all else fails, get a consultation with a pediatric dentist to ensure your baby does not have any tongue ties.

3. Painful or Cracked Nipples

If your nipples are very painful or even cracked and bleeding, the common culprit is a poor or shallow latch. Work hard with all of the above advice given, use a high quality nipple cream, and if you cant bare the pain any longer maybe opt for using a nipple shield while you give yourself some time to heal. Exposing the area to oxygen will help you to heal quickly as well, so if you can sleep shirtless without a bra, you will probably feel much better by morning! These hydrogel patches were a lifesaver for me and my cracked nipples when i was first starting out, and silverettes can help heal you up quickly too!

When To Seek Help: Signs You May Need A Lactation Consultant

If you’ve tried all of these tips and tricks and still aren’t getting any relief, it may be time to set up a meeting with a lactation consultant. If your baby is not gaining weight as expected and the pediatrician begins pushing you to offer formula (and if you’d rather not..) an IBCLC may be your best bet to get everyone back on track and get you breastfeeding comfortably.

If your baby’s suck swallow breathe reflex is underdeveloped, or their suck is weak, you may be best served by reaching out to a speech language pathologist that has experience working with breastfeeding and babies.